13 Mart 2013 Çarşamba

Puerto Rico Territory Song

Puerto Rico Territory Song

"La Borinqueña (The Borinquen)"

Lyrics: Lola Rodríguez de Tió (1868), Manuel Fernández Juncos (1903)

Music: Félix Astol Artés

Adoption: 1952

HISTORY

The indigenous Taino word for the island of Puerto Rico is Boriken, translated as Borinquen in Spanish. Borinqueña can mean a woman from Puerto Rico or the island itself. The music for Puerto Rico’s anthem was composed in 1867 by Félix Astol Artés in the style of a romantic dance. Pro-revolutionary and feminist lyrics, written by poet Lola Rodríguez de Tió, were added to the song in 1868. Her words were a call to pick up the machete and fight Spanish imperialism as Cuban nationalists did. In 1903, De Tió’s lyrics were replaced with less controversial ones written by Manuel Fernández Juncos.

In 1922, Luis Miranda, the musical director of Puerto Rico's 65th Infantry Regiment Band, adapted the Artés tune to be played as a march and removed the original tune's initial paseo. It was rearranged again in 1952, and the music was officially adopted as the island's anthem later that year when Puerto Rico became a Commonwealth of the United States. It wasn’t until 1977 that the Juncos lyrics were formally adopted. The score was changed again in 2003, although it remains a slow march. -World Trade Press